IN MEMORIAM

Israeli PM Netanyahu's father dies at 102

Historian Ben-Zion said to have most profound influence on son

Published: 04/30/2012 at 10:20 AM

(HUFFINGTON POST) JERUSALEM — Ben-Zion Netanyahu, the historian and Zionist activist whose skepticism about peacemaking with the Arabs helped to shape the world outlook of his son, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, died on Monday. He was 102.

The Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that he died at home. It did not give a cause of death but he had been ill recently.

Born Ben-Zion Mileikowsky in Warsaw, Poland, Netanyahu was a devout follower of revisionist Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky, who advocated Jewish military strength and opposed partitioning Palestine between Arabs and Jews. Netanyahu served as his personal aide until Jabotinsky’s death in 1940.